Hague explosion: Multiple people buried under rubble after house blows up
Two people have been rescued from the rubble after a blast caused a house in The Hague to collapse
By Elaine McCahill . Assistant News Editor Mirror
Multiple people are buried under rubble after a house blew up in The Hague.
A suspected gas explosion caused the front of the three-storey building in the Jan van der Heijdenstraat district to collapse at around 4.10pm local time, police said on Sunday.
Two people have been rescued from the rubble and taken to hospital. Local media reports the fire brigade used a cherry picker to remove people from their homes.
Detection dogs are also at the scene as the fire department search for more casualties as they believe “several more” people could still be inside.
The city’s police department of aviation tweeted to say it was a “presumed gas explosion”.
One person is said to be in a serious condition while multiple trauma helicopters have also been deployed.
Pictures from the scene show how the front of the building has completely blown away with smashed windows on top of vans and cars on the street below.
The fire brigade said: “Several dwellings collapsed and surrounding homes are unstable.”
Interior staircases can be seen, alongside people’s living room and bedrooms with personal belongings and bricks strewn outside.
An eyewitness called Samir, 23, told De Telegraaf he was working in a nearby cafe when he felt a “dull slap”.
Stefan van Beekum, 28, lives behind the destroyed building and said he was home with his parents, girlfriend and their one-year-old daughter when the explosion happened.
He was cooking when he “suddenly flew half a metre back” as the windows and doors flew out of the house.
The Hague is a city is on the North Sea coast of the Netherland